Graco and Dorel also advertise seats that they say provide side-impact protection. The families alleged the companies marketed boosters for kids too young or too small to be protected. ProPublica obtained multiple years of Evenflo's side-impact test videos, thousands of pages of sworn depositions of company employees and marketing materials that laid out the business objectives for the Big Kid that, until now, had mostly been shielded by secrecy orders in court cases around the country.Įvenflo's chief competitors, Graco and Dorel, have also faced lawsuits brought by the families of children injured or killed in accidents, though those suits involved head-on collisions. Indeed, the company's test bar was so low, the only way to fail was if the child-sized dummy ended up on the floor or the booster itself broke into pieces. Yet Evenflo gave its seats passing grades. Evenflo's top booster seat engineer would later admit in a deposition if real children moved that way, they could suffer catastrophic head, neck and spinal injuries - or die. The company's tests show that when child-sized crash dummies seated in Big Kid boosters were subjected to the forces of a T-bone collision, they were thrown far out of their shoulder belts. One concerned executive suggested changing weight requirements to protect young passengers, but his suggestion was dismissed. While less common than head-on crashes, side impacts are more likely to result in serious injuries in part because there's only a door separating the passenger from the intruding vehicle. On its website, Evenflo told parents those tests were rigorous, simulating realistic side-impact crashes, which were responsible for more than a quarter of deaths of children under 15 killed in vehicle collisions in 2018. Not only did it sell its seats for children under 40 pounds, but Evenflo touted its Big Kid boosters as "SIDE IMPACT TESTED" without revealing that its own tests showed a child seated in its booster could be in grave danger in such a crash. During side-impact crash tests, Evenflo found that children could get killed in its Big Kid booster seats was emblematic of how the company - locked in a marketing battle with its biggest competitor - has repeatedly made decisions that resulted in putting children at risk. "Why are we even talking about this?" he wrote in an email, adding, "I have looked at 40 lbs for the US numerous times and will not approve this."Įvenflo's decision to keep the weight recommendation for its Big Kid booster low in the U.S. The same executive, who had been promoted to vice president of marketing and product development, expressed his exasperation. Later that year, the subject came up again. It often indicates a user profile.Ī marketing executive "vetoed" Dahle's safety recommendation, an internal Evenflo record shows. If the status of any other safety campaign is needed, please contact the Parentlink at 1-80.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. Only the status of safety campaigns for products above can be tracked online. 12132125 J- Pillo Napper (Canada only) Health Canada Notice (English) Health Canada Notice (French) JanuVictory Jogger/Jogging Stroller (Canada only) SeptemEvolve Booster Seat Replacement of the Central Front Adjuster Retaining Screw FebruTransitions 3-in-1 Car Seat OctoEmbrace 35 Harness Buckle Recall ApConvertible Car Seat Harness Buckle Recallįor your convenience, we have added a new online system to register Evenflo products for safety campaigns. Please click on any of the product names to get details and steps to follow. It's important to us that you have the latest news about products or accessories, so we provide a list of current and past safety campaigns for Evenflo products.īelow are links to safety campaigns for our infant and child-care products. Many times, a simple replacement part may be necessary to improve performance of the product. Safety campaigns call the consumer's attention to products that need to be repaired, modified or replaced after the manufacturing process. Recalls/Safety Campaigns What is a Safety Campaign or Recall?
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